Benue state Governor, Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia, has announced the commencement of a 30-year development master plan for the state.
The initiative, he said, was designed to ensure continuity in governance and prevent successive administrations from abandoning ongoing development programmes.
Alia disclosed this while briefing journalists Friday night at the end of a three-day inspection tour of Federal and Benue state government projects undertaken by the Renewed Hope Ambassadors in collaboration with the Presidential Media Team.
The governor said the master plan became necessary because, in the 50 years since the state was created, successive administrations had operated largely without a comprehensive development framework capable of guiding long-term planning.
According to him, the new plan would provide a common development direction for present and future administrations, irrespective of changes in political leadership.
He said: “Benue at 50, we began a 30-year master plan to ensure that even after power is changed, the same developmental dynamics are still kept. Same vision is being shared and same mission is being embarked upon through this developmental plan.”
Alia explained that the plan would be people-driven, with government identifying the actual needs of residents rather than simply responding to their immediate demands.
He said the administration had adopted the same approach in the execution of roads, schools, healthcare projects and agricultural initiatives across the state.
The governor said the long-term development plan would therefore serve as a framework through which future administrations could identify what had already been accomplished and concentrate on the next phase of development rather than starting afresh.
He said: “Each administration that comes in now takes a look at this, one, two, three, four, taken care of, so I’m going to take care of one, two, three, four, and then we’re moving forward.”
Alia described the approach as essential to transforming Benue from what he called a glorified village status into a properly planned state with modern cities, functional infrastructure and a productive agricultural economy.
He said the responsibility would ultimately rest with the people to hold successive administrations accountable for implementing the development vision.
The governor added that the objective was to build a Benue whose development would not be reset whenever political power changed hands.
He said his administration inherited a state where basic infrastructure had suffered prolonged neglect, prompting it to declare a state of emergency on road infrastructure and embark on extensive rehabilitation and construction across the 23 local government areas.
He also highlighted the rehabilitation of hundreds of primary healthcare centres and schools, as well as the recruitment of about 9,700 teachers for primary schools.
According to him, the administration’s reforms are intended to reduce the burden on subsequent governments by completing critical infrastructure to standards that guarantee durability.
Alia said the state was also repositioning agriculture and agro-processing as major drivers of its economy, stressing that producing raw agricultural commodities without developing the value chain would continue to deprive farmers of the full benefits of their labour.
He cited the revival of the Taraku Mills, establishment of a food basket brewery (ZEVA) as well as plans for a Benue farm market in Abuja, as part of the administration’s efforts to create markets for farmers and retain more value within the state.
The governor said the administration was particularly focused on reviving soybean production and other agricultural value chains for which Benue has comparative advantage.
He added that farmers were being organised into cooperatives and supported with inputs and other incentives to enable them expand production and have access to sustainable markets.
On security and internally displaced persons, Alia said the state had recorded progress in returning displaced residents to their ancestral communities.
He disclosed that some of the state’s IDP camps were already witnessing declining populations as displaced persons voluntarily returned to their farms and began rebuilding their homes.
The governor attributed the progress to collaboration between the state, Federal Government, traditional institutions, security agencies and international organisations, including the United Nations and the International Organization for Migration.
Alia also credited improved relations between his administration and the Federal Government for the increased support and federal projects being implemented across the state.
He said the Federal Government’s intervention had translated into projects in areas including roads, schools, healthcare and the Otukpo Water Works.
The governor further said his administration had prioritised prudent management of public resources, insisting that government funds must be deployed according to the purposes for which they were received.
“What we receive, it’s meant to go, it’s not for individual pockets, it’s meant for the common good,” he said, stressing that the poor and vulnerable population must remain at the centre of government policies.
Alia maintained that the reforms being implemented by his administration were already yielding results, despite resistance from beneficiaries of the old order.
He said the ultimate test of governance was whether citizens could see, feel and use the benefits of government policies and projects.